He Loved Her First
by An Aspiring Author
Summary: What if James wasn't the only one who loved Lily? And what if she loved this other man back? Can James possibly compare to the one Lily loves and win her for himself?
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"Hey Lily," said the dashing young wizard named James Potter.

Before he could even ask a question, Lily abruptly said, "No," and then walked out of the Gryfindor common room and most likely headed to the library.

James just shrugged the rejection off and walked back to his good friend Sirius, who was lounging on the floor looking at a joke and trick shop catalog.

"Hmmm... this sounds interesting," said Sirius as his best friend approached. "Actual voo-doo dolls, all we would need is a lock of Snivey's hair and we could jinx him from the comfort of our own common room."

Suddenly James got a terrific idea. "Can you do anything besides jinx the person with the doll?"

"Like what?" asked Sirius with interest.

James glanced over to the portrait to make sure that Lily was indeed gone.

Sirius followed James's line of vision and smiled. He had watched James get dumped by Lily again. "I don't know," remarked Sirius. "But I know how we can find out."

James smiled. He loved the way his partner-in-crime's mind worked.

The next day Sirius went up to the owlery and sent his black owl, Nightshade, out with an order for two voo-doo dolls (one for Snape and one for Evans), a new supply of dungbombs and a couple of fireworks.

Two weeks laterthe joke shopdelivered the shipment to its most loyal customers. As soon as the owls arrived at breakfast, James and Sirius took their loot and stashed it up in their dormitory for use after classes, or between, or knowing James and Sirius, during. The rest of the morning was used to locate and steal, or borrow without the intention of ever returning (as the Marauder ringleaders liked to refer to their mischief with other people's possessions), a lock of hair from two people; a greasy clump of grease with some hairs in it from Snape and a lock of red from the haloed head of Lily. It was Sirius's job to attack Severus and James's to cut of some of his hair. This was all completed after Potions class, which Gryfindors and Slytherins had together. There was one significant problem that almost put the kibosh on the whole operation however. Lily Evans was also in the Gryfindor/Slytherin Potions class that morning, and she had stayed after to speak to Professor Slughorn about using essence instead of extract of snake liver for better results with the Wendinky potions, so she walked out of the classroom right as Potter and Black were cornering Snape.

The whole thing was almost a disaster when James chanced to look over at Lily and the disgust that was so evident on her face as she walked away, not willing to intervene on Severus's behalf after he had insulted her the previous summer.

"Oi! Prongs! Now!" yelled Sirius as Snape struggled to free himself of the hex that had been placed on him by Black.

James turned from Lily and got the hair from Snape.

"Now what?" asked Sirius cruelly.

"Let him go," said James dully as he remembered the look Lily had given him.

Sirius released Snape downheartedly and then the two of them left Severus to gather up his spilled quills and other school supplies.

"What's up with you? You losing your edge?" asked Sirius, half-joking, half-not.

"She's never going to like me," answered James sadly.

"That's what the doll is for, remember?"

"I just kinda wish that she would like me of her own free will though."

"Why can't you just pick another girl? I bet you that any other girl would be happy to go out with you. What about that, ummm... the Ravenclaw with the dark-haired girl, the one who is on the Quidditch team?"

"Nah, she's going out with that Chang guy, I think."

"How about Alice whatever, she's kind of pretty," suggested Sirius.

"I think Frank Longbottom fancies her, I don't want to make it a triangle."

"What about this red head I know? Let's see, what is her name?" Sirius looked down at the floor and covered his face with his hand in fierce concentration. "Rose? No. Violet? No. Lilac? Close, but no."

"Lily!" exclaimed James.

"That's the one!" said Sirius looking up. But then he saw what James had stopped dead. Lily was standing right at the end of the hallway, as if she was waiting for them, for reasons unknown.

James, as usual, lost all control of himself for a couple of seconds at the sight of Evans.

While James was collecting himself, Sirius asked Lily, "So Evans, you need to ask Sluggy to change your grade from Super-Outstanding to Ultra-Outstanding, or do you just want to inform him that we should all be using killey fish scales instead of _kiley_ fish scales?"

"No I was going to ask him if tomorrow we could use students instead of mice to test out the mummifying potions. I _was_ going to vote for Potter, but one more comment like that Black and I may just have to nominate you," retorted Lily.

"I'm touched that I won your vote," said James, having regained the ability to speak.

"Don't flatter yourself."

"So, Evans, what really brings you to this neck of the woods?" asked Sirius.

"Besides classes? Well, I just thought that you should know that if you gang up on Snape one more time, I will take points from Gryfindor."

"From your own house?" asked James, mystified.

"Yes, from my own house, I am amazed that Remus hasn't taken away hundreds of points from you two by now."

"He hasn't taken away hundreds of points from _his own house_, one because he, unlike some people, actually want to win the House Cup and two, because on most occasions he would have to take points away from himself for aiding and abetting the criminals," stated James smartly.

"Oh, I think he pays enough for your little schemes, but not in points," said Lily as she walked away.

"What did she mean?" asked Sirius.

"Ummm... not sure exactly and frankly I don't care; let's just work on our plot to get some of her hair."

"Yeah, I doubt she is going to just hand over some of her DNA."

James nodded in agreement, "but maybe she just won't hand over some of her hair to _us_."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

James of course was. At the same time they both said "Remus!" and rushed off to convince their friend to do their bidding.

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"So how is your transfiguration essay coming Lily?" asked Remus as he approached the library table Lily was working at.

"Alright, how's yours?" replied Lily as she momentarily paused in her work.

"It's ok, not my best work, but it's better than Sirius or James's."

"Remus," sighed Lily. "Did they make you proof-read their essays again?"

"It wasn't at all strenuous, neither of them have anything written and Peter hasn't gotten past his name. Do you mind if I join you? The common room is a little… well… it's… it's impossible to work with James and Sirius within a ten-foot radius!"

"I feel the same way! Sirius isn't so bad on his good days, but James is just downright intolerable all of the time. It's because of them that I spend so much time in the library."

"Yeah, this is the one place I can escape them too," said Remus downheartedly.

"The only reason they would come in here is if there was a section of books about pulling pranks and hexing Severus."

Remus and Lily laughed and then Remus said, "They really aren't as bad as you think; they just like having a little fun."

"A little fun I could comprehend, everyone wants some fun, but what they do to poor Snape is just cruel and unusual."

"I don't mean to defend them, but I just have to say that half the time he has it coming to him."

"But they never fight fairly, two on one? How could Severus ever defend himself if they both advance on him?"

Remus smiled, "Therein lays their genius. They will always win. Perhaps it's best that James wins for two reasons."

Lily asked, "Why is it good that James hexes poor Snape?"

"Number one, James and Sirius may be cruel, but they would never really hurt Snape; they just have some fun with him. Snape on the other hand might actually maim James, Sirius, or both if he was given the chance."

"For your sake I won't comment on that."

"I thank you," said Remus as he was about to list the second reason. "I believe that you will readily agree with my second reason."

"What is it?"

"James needs to satisfy his ego almost daily and beating Snape often gives him a boast."

"I agree with the need to satisfy the ego part, but I'm not sure why someone has to get hurt to see it accomplished."

"Snape provides an everlasting supply of ego-boosters for James, that and Quidditch are the only true sources he can use, other than dangerous stunts. Do you remember that one time he tried tofeed the giant squidbecause he was feeling bored?"

Lily laughed at the recollection. "Why do you hang around with those two morons Remus? You can do so much better in the way of friends."

Remus smiled again, but his face still looked sad. "Yeah, until they find out what I really am. James, Sirius and Peter are the only ones who accept me for the monster I am."

"They aren't the only ones," said Lily shyly.

"Trust me, they are. People are pretty stubborn about this sort of thing."

Lily was more than slightly offended at being left out as one of Remus's friends. "So what, I don't count as a person anymore? Now I'm a thing to you too; you have been with James too much."

"I'm sorry Lily, really I am. I didn't mean to leave you out; it's just that I have you and then I have Sirius, James and Peter."

"At least you didn't count me as one of them."

"I never could, I can talk to you like I can't to them. They just don't understand or even listen for that matter."

"You are a good listener yourself. I'm glad that we have become friends, I don't know how I would have gotten this far in Hogwarts without you," said Lily sweetly.

"You've been there for me when no one else has and I thank you for it."

"There is no need to thank me, I have been happy to listen to all of your problems."

"I know, and that is what makes you such a wonderful person," Remus said.

Lily paused for a second before saying, "Remus, I, I, think…"

"No, Lily, don't say it. I feel bad enough as it is."

"Remus, please," pleaded Lily. "I need to know."

"Know that everything you feel for me, I return to you, but we both know the problems that would evolve if something came from our feelings."

"You don't know that if you don't try."

"I don't want to see you hurt, Lily, I care for you too much."

"Then don't reject me," begged Lily.

Remus got up to leave. He couldn't sit there anymore; it was proving to be impossibly difficult to not give into the demands of his heart.

Lily got up also. She grabbed her stuff and followed Remus out of the library.

"Remus, please, just wait," called Lily.

Remus was barely ten steps in front of her, so by the time he had stopped and turned around, she was upon him.

Just as Lily's lips met Remus's, James walked around the corner. He had been walking to see if Remus had been successful in obtaining a hair sample from Lily. Instead he got a full view of Remus kissing the head the hair sample was attached to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Harry Potter characters, it's just one of those burdensI have to bear in life.**

CHAPTER 2

James was so furious that he just turned around silently and ran to find Sirius so that he could vent and if he found Snape along the way it might help to lower his levels of frustration and blind rage. Unfortunately, (for James but fortunately for Severus), James got all the way back to the common room without finding anyone to take his anger out on, so he had to let it all out on Sirius.

"What's up mate?" asked Sirius as he perceived the anger that was radiating from James.

"Remus is a backstabbing backstabber!"

"Remus _Lupin_?"

"Yes! How many Remuses do you think there are in this world!"

Sirius was still doubtful, "_Our_ Remus Lupin?"

"Yes!"

"What did he do, steal one of your chocolate frog cards?" asked Sirius lightheartedly.

"NO! He stole my girl!"

"Which one?"

"Lily!" shouted James.

"But, it's Remus, he would never steal anything, much less a girl. I think he would like, explode if he tried."

"Padfoot, he kissed her," said James, more quietly, but no less angrily.

"He didn't," said Sirius in shock.

"He definitely did."

"Remus?"

"For the thousandth time, yes!"

"I don't believe it," muttered Sirius. "Remus has a girlfriend."

"He does not!"

Sirius looked at James, "I'm afraid that he does; it's just too bad that it's the one you wanted."

"He is such a traitor! He is now on my 'to hex daily' list, right under Snape!"

"Relax Prongs, so what, it's not like you were dating Evans or anything, you just liked her. He didn't do anything wrong."

"Join me Padfoot, or you'll be right below him!"

Sirius laughed, "And what will you do then? Hang out with Peter?"

"Oh shut up!" yelled James as he walked toward the exit of the common room, which had luckily been empty at the time.

"Did you ever think that maybe Remus didn't steal your girlfriend, that Lily stole your best friend?" Sirius called after the retreating figure that was James Potter.

James left the room without acknowledging Sirius's comment. Things might have turned out really badly for everyone involved if James had encountered Remus while out on his angry walk. But, James didn't meet Remus. He did however meet Lily. She didn't look overly happy and smug as she passed James in the hall, but he would have been provoked by just about anything.

"You know Evans, I once thought of you as a nice person," said James just after Lily passed him.

"Why the past tense Potter?" asked Lily as she stopped but did not turn around.

"You know why!" shouted James as he turned around.

"I'm afraid I don't, but I won't lose sleep over it if I don't find out."

"You stole my friend!"

"As in what?"

James paused for a second, Sirius's comment had made sense earlier, but now it didn't sound so sane. "If you go out with him then he won't have any time to be my friend."

"I would never, ever go out with Sirius; he's too much like you. So don't worry about it; he's all yours," said Lily as she turned around to face James.

"I wasn't talking about Sirius."

"Peter is safe from me too."

"I wasn't talking about Peter either."

"You don't have any other friends, so I don't know what you are trying to say," said Lily cruelly.

"Remus is my…"

Lily cut in, "Don't you dare try to claim Remus as one of your friends. You have never treated him as an equal and because of your enormous ego, you never will."

"Remus is one of my best friends, he is my equal," stammered James.

"The only one whom you consider to be your equal is you."

"That's not true!"

"Oh, isn't it? The only reason you let Peter anywhere near you is because he worships the ground you walk upon. You use Sirius to lessen your chances of being caught when you pull something. And Remus is just one more prefect that you don't have to worry about because you know that he wouldn't turn you in."

"For hating my guts you seem to know an awful lot about the inner workings of my seemingly devious mind."

"It's not hard to break into a box without a lock," taunted Lily.

"Touché," stated James.

Lily started to walk away but stopped when James called after her with a sudden change of heart, "What would I have to do to get you to like me?"

Lily thought about it a moment, responded, "Be more like Remus," and then walked on.

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"So Remus, why did you do it?" asked Sirius as Remus walked into the common room shortly after James had departed in a rage.

"Do what?" asked Remus totally unaware of what Sirius was getting at.

"Steal Lily from James."

"I never did," protested Remus quietly.

"Really?"

"No Sirius, I'm lying to you," said Remus with uncharacteristic brand of biting sarcasm in his voice. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a Transfiguration essay to finish." Remus tried to hurry over to a table and away from Sirius's interrogating eyes.

Sirius blocked Remus's path and looked him hard in the face. Then his eyes went wide. "No wonder James was ripping; you kissed her didn't you?" he demanded.

"Sort of," replied Remus feebly.

"He is going to kick your butt so hard…" said Sirius.

"He saw that?"

"Oh yeah!"

"What am I going to do Padfoot!" asked Remus worriedly.

Sirius backed off with his hands raised in front of him, "There is no way I am getting involved in this one."

"Please Padfoot you have to help me."

"Do I look like a moron to you? If I help you, then once James is done beating you to a pulp, he'll start on me."

Just then Lily walked through the entrance to the common room. Her eyes met Remus's. She smiled at him, blushed and then hurried over to a table.

"How very interesting," said Sirius mysteriously.

"What?"

"I would have never seen it if it hadn't been pointed out to me."

Remus was being very jumpy and excited, two things he rarely ever was. "What is it Sirius!"

"All these years, while James has been crushing on Lily, she has been crushing on you." Sirius took the unsurprised look on Remus's face as Remus already having known this. "You knew and you never said anything!"

"Of course I knew!" snapped Remus.

Sirius looked shockingly at Remus. "You like her back, don't you?"

Remus swallowed hard and looked over at Lily. That was all the confirmation that Sirius needed.

And then the third member of the love triangle entered. James threw dark looks at both of his best friends and walked over to the boys' dormitories.

"What should I do Sirius?" asked Remus once James was upstairs.

Sirius didn't reply.

"Padfoot! I'm kind of on a deadline here!"

"Oh, sorry Moony. I was just savoring the moment."

"What moment!"

"The moment you asked me for help and advice."

"Sirius!" shouted Remus.

"Well, you should not go up to the dormitories without at least six fully trained aurors with you."

"Thank you Mr. Not-helping!"

"Do you know that Lily likes you?" asked Sirius, taking on a softer tone.

"Yes," replied Remus quietly as he gazed over at Lily again, who was not more than twenty feet away.

"And you like her back, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then to heck with James, ask her out!"

Remus had to take a mental step back. Out of a brotherly affection for James, he had never even considered dating Lily, no matter how much he liked her. Remus was also always aware that he could never lead a normal life because of his werewolf condition.

"I don't know Sirius…" said Remus.

"It's just a thought that you can contemplate while I try to get James down from the 'murderous rage' level to an 'I'm-angry-but-I-will-not-stab-you-the-first-chance-I-get' level," said Sirius as he headed after James.

James whipped his wand out and whirled around as he heard the door open behind him. "Oh, it's just you," muttered James as he put his wand away.

"Well I'm glad to see that I'm not going to be the victim of your undeserved anger," said Sirius bravely.

"Padfoot! He KISSED her! I say that I get to be angry!"

"But what if I told you that he has liked Lily longer than you have?" suggested Sirius diplomatically as he walked past James as if what he knew was of no consequence.

"That's impossible, I've liked her since the first day I met her," James pointed out.

"But who met her first?" asked Sirius.

James thought back to the first day of first year.

-------------------------------------FLASHBACK-----------------------------------

James and another first year named Sirius had met each other soon after entering the train (almost late of course) and had decided to stick together to find a compartment. As they were walking down the corridor, they met with some unexpected guests, Sirius's cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa Black.

"Sirius," screeched Bella. "What are you doing with that blood traitor!"

Sirius, unlike the rest of his family, did not believe in the 'pure blood's who are loyal to the dark side are superior to everyone else' nonsense. "Hey James, have you ever betrayed anyone?"

James thought for a moment and said, "Yeah, when I was seven I promised my goldfish that I would feed it everyday and make sure that it never died. I forgot to feed it for four days and then I flushed it."

"Well then, dearest cousin Trixy (Bella flinched at the sound of the nickname she hated), I guess you're right. I can't hang out with someone who betrayed his goldfish four years ago," said Sirius sarcastically. Then to James he remarked, "C'mon, let's get out of here."

"I'm going to tell your mother that you're hanging out with a Potter!" threatened Bella.

"Go ahead, mother always liked Regulus better anyways."

Once they were out of earshot Sirius apologized to James, "Sorry about them, it's not their fault really. They just grew up thinking like that."

"Don't worry about it," said James. "But how did she know I was a Potter?"

"The same way everyone knows you're a Potter."

James was still confused.

"Your hair," enlightened Sirius. "It's pretty much famous in the wizarding world; everyone knows that all the males in your family have that hair."

Just then they met another boy who seemed to be totally lost.

"Ummm… Hi," said James to the rather twitchy boy.

"Hi," squeaked back the blond.

"I'm Sirius and this is James," volunteered Sirius."

"Peter, Peter Pettigrew."

"Nice to meet you Peter, are you lost?" asked James.

Peter nodded.

"You can tag along with us if you want," offered James kindly.

Peter almost jumped for joy at the thought of being allowed to hang out with the two dark haired boys, who, even though they were only eleven, were very handsome.

"Ok, thanks, thanks a lot," said Peter happily.

"No problem," said Sirius casually.

"No let's find somewhere to sit because I'm getting tired of standing."

As they walked door the hall, James and Sirius talked of Quidditch and brooms and Peter trailed behind, listening to their every word. At some point James tried to help Peter into the conversation, but Peter just squeaked an answer and fell back into silence. Finally, at the very end of the train, they found a compartment that only had two people in it, a pretty red-haired girl and a sandy-blond haired boy.

The three boys walked in and Sirius asked, "Do you mind if we sit here?"

The boy shrugged and the girl said, "Sure."

The boys sat down, James next to the boy, Sirius and Peter next to the girl, and then Sirius began the introductions for his group because it seemed that James had lost his ability to speak as soon as he saw the pretty girl.

"I'm Sirius, this is James and that is Peter."

"Lily Evans," said the girl.

"Remus Lupin," stated the boy.

Then Lily and Remus just picked up where their conversation had left off. "I think that Potions is going to be the hardest class because everything is so exact and specific."

"I think Transfiguartion is going to be more difficult than Potions because in Transfiguration you have to actually change an object into something else," argued Remus.

Peter actually piped up at this point, "What about History of Magic? All of those dates and facts…"

"Peter does have a point Lily," remarked Remus.

"I don't fear Histroy, I aced it at school," boasted Lily.

The rest of the occupants were confused. "So are you a second year or a first year?" asked Sirius.

"First year, why?"

"Because you said that you have already been to school," said Remus trying to clarify what she was trying to say.

"Of course I have, what else would I do between the age of five and eleven?" said Lily as if it was the silliest question she had ever been asked.

It finally dawned on Remus, "Oh I get it, you are muggle-born."

There was a moment of clarity for everyone except Lily. "What's a muggle?"

"Someone who isn't magic," explained Remus.

"So I don't suppose that you have ever heard of Quidditch then?" asked James.

"No."

"It's this game played on broomsticks," said Sirius.

"Broomsticks?" questioned Lily. "As in flying broomsticks?"

"Yeah what else would you use a broomstick for?" asked James.

"Well muggles use them for sweeping stuff off of floors."

"Really?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah."

For the rest of the ride to Hogwarts the four young wizards and one witch talked about the differences between the wizarding world and the muggle world. But once they got to the boats the four boys climbed into one and Lily rode in a boat with some girls.

----------------------------------END OF FLASHBACK-------------------------------

"So what?" asked James, returning to his present sixteen-year-old self. "He liked her for ten more minutes than I did? I don't see how that entitles him to have her."

"Maybe it doesn't, but what does is the fact that she likes him and she doesn't like you."

James was struck dumb for a minute. "She what?"

"Yeah, I figure that she kissed him. It just isn't in Remus's nature to suddenly kiss a girl."

"I guess you're right. Should I just give up all hope forever then?"

Sirius knew that he should say yes because that was the truth, but he couldn't stand to hurt his already crushed friend. "No mate, there isn't anything that says that you can't hope that someday you best mate's girlfriend will suddenly dump him and run to you; as long as you don't try to mess their relationship up."

"As far as hopeful speeches go Padfoot; that was the worst one I have ever heard."

"Probably because, well, no offense of anything, but there isn't a lot to hope for."

"What can I do?"

"Leave her alone and stop asking her out!"

"Alright," said James grudgingly. "Anything else?"

"Consider this, the friend approach worked pretty well for Remus, why don't you try that for a while?"

"Alright come September I'll try that."

"Why not now? We still have two weeks of school left."

"Because right now I feel like sulking, so that's what I'm going to do."

Sirius smiled, "Ok but are you going to make up with Remus?"

James shrugged, "Eventually I suppose."

"The full moon is in four days," Sirius pointed out. "You wouldn't want to miss all of the fun, and if Werewolf Moony is mad at you, well then you won't have to worry about trying a new approach with Lily. But hey, maybe at your funeral she'll change her mind and decide that she really liked you all along."

"Ha ha, very funny," said James as he left the dormitory.

"Where are you going?"

"To show off for a bunch of girls on my broom."

"It's no wonder that Lily doesn't like you."

"It's not like I invite the girls there; they just kind of show up."

"Sure Prongs you just keep telling yourself that."


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

"Morning," said Sirius sleepily as he made his way down to the Potter's kitchen on a bright Summer day.

"Wow Sirius it's only 10:30. Why are you up so early?" asked James sarcastically. James was a morning person who had been up since seven that morning even though it was summer vacation.

"Aren't we meeting Remmy and Pete in Diagon Alley today?" mumbled Sirius.

"We are meeting up with Remus and presumably Lily," said James resentfully. "Peter backed out because his gerbil is sick."

"Ok, sounds good. When are we leaving?"

"Noon."

"Why so late?"

"Because Moony and I didn't think that you would be out of bed before eleven at the earliest and I didn't feel like bothering to get you up before that."

"Oh ok, I'm going to go take a shower then," said Sirius tiredly as he left the kitchen.

James picked up the newspaper and without looking up said, "Where are you going to take a shower Padfoot, because the bathroom is the other way."

"Maybe I don't want to use that bathroom," retorted Sirius, slightly more awake now.

"There aren't any bathrooms in that direction," called James.

"How do you know!"

"Because I have lived here my entire life," stated James.

"Oh yeah," said Sirius as he ran his hair and returned to the kitchen.

"Bathroom's that way," said James as he pointed in the direction opposite from where Sirius had been going.

"Uh, thanks mate."

"Yup, don't mention it."

"I won't."

After Sirius had left James took a letter he had been reading before Sirius had entered, out from the pages of the newspaper and started to read it again.

It read:

Dear Prongs,

I hope that you and Padfoot are well. I'll meet you and Sirius outside of Gringotts at noon ok? Try to get Padfoot out of bed before then, I even authorize the use of water (freezing cold water) in this instance. Do you mind if Lily comes? I know that you still like her, so don't say no unless it really won't bother you, and yes I will know if you say no and don't really mean it. Send me and owl soon.

Moony

James had read the note several times already, but wasn't any closer to an answer. Did he mind if Lily went with Remus? What would happen if they got married? He would have to pretend to be happy for his friend. Well, if he was going to have to get used be pretending to be happy for the rest of his life, he might as well start now. Maybe that way he could practice and be able to fool Remus on his wedding day.

Dear Moony,

Pads and I are fine, well I'm fine, Padfoot, as usual is missing a few brain cells. If you can believe it, he's already up! (and I was looking forward to the ice water escapade.) It's perfectly fine with me if Lily comes and Padfoot, I'm sure wouldn't mind either. And yes, I do mean that. Don't look at me (through the letter) that way! I am sErious (that's serious with an e, not an i because who would want to be Sirius with and i?) Sometimes I don't think you give me enough credit. It's not like I love Lily or anything. It WAS just a crush. Anyway, see you at noon!

Prongs

James sent his owl on its way and then turned back to the newspaper. But he couldn't get his mind off of Lily. He loved her with every fiber of his being. No! No! He couldn't love her anymore. She was Remus's girlfriend. And even if they broke up, he wouldn't be able to go out with her right after that. That was not the most depressing part though. What if they never broke up? What would happen to James?

-------------------James's Imagination (In third person) -------------------------

James, Remus, Sirius and Peter were all in a small room behind the small church Lily had grown up in. Remus was pacing up and down in his tux and annoying the heck out of Sirius in the process.

Finally Sirius snapped, "Will you stop pacing Moony! What is your problem? You're getting married, not going off to fight a dozen death eaters solo!"

Remus stopped for a second and said, "I could face a hundred death eaters and be less nervous!"

Then he continued pacing. Sirius tried his best not to look at Remus, but he couldn't help it, there was nothing else to look at. "Prongs will you please say something to Moony! He won't stop and it's driving me crazy!"

"That's impossible Pads, you already are crazy," stated James calmly.

Peter snickered, but stopped when Sirius glared at him.

Sirius continued as if Remus wasn't in the room, "Come on Prongs, you can't tell me that he isn't making you crazy too."

"No, I'm fine."

"Wormtail? Are you driven nuts by Moony's mad pacing?"

"Umm, yes?"

"There you go Prongs, do it for Wormtail's sanity."

"Do what?" asked James.

"Stop the pacing!" cried Sirius.

"Why me?"

"Because for the last three and a half years you have been Remus's counselor in the only area he needs counseling, Lily. And I believe that this would fall under the category of Lily. And besides, you're his best man."

James sighed. "Fine."

James got up from where he was sitting, laid a hand firmly on Remus's shoulder and said, "Moony, what's wrong? Don't you want to spend the rest of your life with Lily?"

"Of course I do!" snapped Remus.

"So what is the problem?"

"What is she doesn't want to marry me?"

"I'm pretty sure that she does."

"How can you be so sure?"

"She said yes when you asked her."

"Yeah, but what if she changed her mind?"

"If she was going to change her mind, she would have done it before she got a dress and planned the entire wedding."

"Yes, I suppose…"

"You suppose!" yelled James. "How can you just suppose? I just presented you with perfect logic. You are supposed to be the reasonable one here Moony. I doubt that I will ever again come up with such a realistic train of thought. You should value you it now."

"He's right Moony," agreed Padfoot. "Prongs is actually making sense for once."

"I still don't know…"

"Why wouldn't she want to marry you Remmy?" asked James kindly. "You two are perfect matches. You are both smart and were dedicated to your school work at Hogwarts, you are both kind and reasonable and you both are really loyal and good friends."

"Wow, that's two today Prongs, you are on a roll," said Sirius.

"Ummm… guys?" said Peter quietly.

"Not now Wormtail, Prongs is on a roll here," said Sirius absently.

"And she loves you and you love her," said James.

"Umm… guys," said Peter a little louder.

"Shhh… Pete, James is trying to convince Remmy to get married on his wedding day."

"But, it's important," whined Peter.

"So is this," snapped Sirius.

"Fine, see if I care if you're late for the wedding, I'll just go marry Lily," mumbled Peter as he left.

"What was that Wormtail," asked James as Peter left.

"I said," said Peter dragging out his words. "That I don't care if you're all late for the wedding, I'll just go marry Lily myself."

"Oh no you won't!" exclaimed James. "If the groom doesn't marry the bride, then the best man gets to!"

"What time is it?" asked Remus, panic-stricken.

"Five of ten," said Peter.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Sirius said, "Calm down Wormtail, the wedding isn't until ten-thirty."

Then everyone turned back to Remus.

"Can you do this now?" asked James.

"Yes," said Remus confidently. "Yes I think I can."

"Oh good," said Sirius. "Cause if you didn't get married there wouldn't be any wedding cake!"

"You always have my best interests at heart don't you Pads," said Remus sarcastically.

"Of course!"

Remus just sighed exasperatedly and looked at James. "I can do this if Lily can, so would you mind checking up on her for me?"

"Not at all Moony. Where is the beautiful bride?"

"They are over at Alice and Frank's getting ready."

"Ok, I'll be back soon," said James.

"Oi! I'm coming too!" said Sirius. And then turning to Peter he ordered, "Keep Remus from apparating to Hogwarts and jumping off of the Astronomy Tower ok?"

"Yeah sure Padfoot," said Peter.

As soon as the two men had left, Remus resumed his pacing.

Meanwhile, James and Sirius stood outside of Frank and Alice's house and knocked on the door. Alice answered and said, "What do you want?"

"Remus asked us to check up on his future wife," explained Sirius.

"She's fine," said Alice.

"But we promised that we would talk to her," said Sirius.

Alice sighed. She knew that Sirius and James would eventually get their way and she didn't want to hold up the wedding, so Alice let them in. "Come on, she's in the living room."

James and Sirius entered into a flurry of activity. Women were running up and down the stairs and here and there shouting messages to each other about the location of shoes or make-up and other such things. James and Sirius were in awe.

"Are you coming?" asked Alice from the living room.

"Yeah," said James.

If the two groomsmen were in awe before, then now they were in shock. In the middle of the room, Lily stood in all her glory with people fussing all around her. About a minute after the men in tuxes walked in, Lily's mother proclaimed, "She's done!"

Then all of the bridesmaids and helpers disappeared to get themselves ready.

As they left, Lily turned around. "Hi guys," she said quietly and then turned back to the full length mirror in front of her.

"Wow Lily, you look gorgeous," said James as he ran his fingers through his hair.

"Thanks James," replied Lily.

Ever since Lily and Remus had been going out, Lily had become friends with the other Marauders, including James. She even started to call him by his first name after a while.

"Yeah James, who would have ever thought that Remus would end up with such a pretty wife?"

"Not I," said James truthfully.

"So did you guys come here for a reason besides picking on Remus?" asked Lily.

"Yeah, Remus wanted us to check up on you," said Sirius.

"He has a bad case of the nerves and wanted to make sure that you were still going to marry him," explained James.

"Why would I go to all the trouble of planning a wedding and getting all dressed up if I wasn't going to go through with it?" asked Lily.

"That's what I said!" exclaimed James.

"So you aren't nervous?" asked Sirius.

Lily sighed, "Of course I'm nervous," she admitted. "But I know in my heart that this is the right thing to do, so I'm going to."

"Alright then," said Sirius. "You sound fine to me, so I'm going to go back and check up on the cake, make sure it's not ummm… melting under stress or anything."

Sirius left quickly.

"He's not going to check on the cake is he?" asked Lily.

"Nope, my best guess is that he's going to go snog one of your bridesmaids."

"That's what I thought, but his cake excuse sounded almost plausible."

"It would have been more realistic is he said he was going to go eat the cake," joked James.

Lily laughed. Oh how James loved her laugh.

"Well, I better get back to Remus," said James after an awkward pause. "I'm sure by now he has almost worn through the carpet with all his pacing."

"Can you give him a message for me?" asked Lily as James retreated.

"Sure," said James.

"Just tell him that I love him ok?"

"Yeah, will do," said James somewhat sadly.

"And James?"

"Yeah?"

"I just want you to know that all those things I said to you back at school?"

"Ummhmmm…" said James, not wanting to relive the worst moments of his life right then, on the worst day of his life.

"Well I know now that they aren't true, at least not anymore. You're a good friend and Remus is lucky to have you."

After a pause James said, "Thanks Lily."

Then he left.

Within the hour, James watched the love of his life kiss his best friend as they were proclaimed man and wife. James thought his life couldn't get any worse. But then it did. Voldemort arrived at the Church and killed Remus. Panic ensued. Voldemort was laughing cruelly as his death eaters swarmed the place. James and Sirius were back to back each fighting off three death eaters. Then out of the corner of his eye James saw Lily crying over the body of her husband. Curses were flying everywhere over her head, but she could care less. James just couldn't let Lily die; no matter how many times his heart had been broken by her. With a final effort, James finished off his death eaters and ran over to Lily.

"Lily," he shouted. "You have to get out of here! There isn't anything you could have done!"

Lily was incapable of movement however, so James had to lift her up and try to get her to safety. He ran to the room that he had just recently been in; but then he had been reassuring Remus that Lily would in fact marry him.

"Lily, listen to me," said James as he put her down. "You have to stay here. Voldemort is after you."

Then James turned to go, but Lily grabbed his hand and said in a small voice, "James please don't leave me, I don't want to be alone."

James said back, "I will never leave you Lily, I love you."

And then Lily slapped him.

"What was that for?" he asked surprised.

Suddenly Lily had the voice of Sirius, "Because you have been lost to the world for the last ten minutes!"

Then James snapped out of his reverie and finally noticed that he was soaking wet.

-------------------------------End of daydream---------------------------------

"Why am I wet?" asked James.

"I told you that you were lost to the world," said Sirius. "What were you thinking about? For awhile there, you looked depressed, then shocked, then angry and then happy and then well, then I decided to wake you up because its already 11:30 and we have to go soon."

"I was thinking about what if Lily and Remus got married."

"Oh so that was the depressed face."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Don't tell me the happy face was when Lily left Remus at the altar for you!" said Sirius enthusiastically.

"No, she didn't, they did get married."

"Oh, so that was the shocked face."

"No, the shocked face was when Voldemort showed up and killed Remus on the spot."

"Was that the happy face too?" asked Sirius with a worried expression in his eye. He was afraid of what James would do if Remus and Lily actually got married.

"No the happy face was when I rescued Lily from the middle of a fight and brought her to safety and she asked me not to leave her."

"Un hun," said Sirius sarcastically. "Suuure. Remus dating Lily is really bothering you, isn't it?"

"No, of course not," said James with a laugh. "What would give you that crazy idea?"

"I can read you like an open book."

"No you can't."

"I may not be as good at it as Moony, but I can tell when you are deeply disturbed and mate, you are deeply disturbed."

"I am not disturbed!" shouted James.

"You had me fooled," said James's mother as she walked into the kitchen.

"Mom," moaned James. "I am NOT disturbed!"

"Whatever you say honey; I'm going out boys, I'll see you tonight," called Mrs. Potter as she grabbed her purse and left.

"Face it Prongs, even your mother thinks that you have issues."

"Alright maybe I have an issue."

"Yeah an issue in the form of your best friend's red headed, green-eyed, girlfriend."

"I do not have an issue with Lily!"

Sirius smiled. His plan had worked. "I never said it was Lily. But now I'm starting to think…"

James groaned. "We don't know anyone else who fits that description!"

"True, but I never said that it was Lily, you just proved it. You have an issue and its name is Lily Evans."

"Alright maybe I have a little problem," admitted James quietly.

"Well, Prongs, the first step to recovery is admitting that you have a problem. By the end of the summer, you might be on step two."

"What's step two?"

"Having a conversation with Lily that does not include asking her out."

"That's easy," boasted James.

"Alright, Lily is coming to Diagon Alley today right?"

"How did you know that?"

"The letter Moony wrote is sitting on the table in plain sight."

"Oh right," said James as he ran a hand through his hair.

"So I bet you that you can't have a three minute long conversation with Lily that doesn't include asking her out or her yelling at you."

"What do you bet?"

"Well, if I win, then you have to clean my room without magic."

"Ohhh, alright, but if I win, then you have to tell Snape that you love him at breakfast the day after we get back to school."

"Deal," said Sirius as the two shook on it.

"Now," said Sirius as he looked at James, "you might want to dry off before we leave."

James waved his wand and in seconds he was dry. Then the two set off for Diagon Alley.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**Disclaimer: Surprise surprise, I don't own Harry Potter.**

**A/N: Thanks to all of the reviewers! You guys mean a lot to me! I'm sorry for the long break! Please read and review!**

In seconds, James and Sirius had arrived in the back alley behind the Leaky Cauldron, both of them having passed their apparation tests. James tapped the right brick and then they were in Diagon Alley.

"We still have ten minutes before we have to meet Moony, you want to get some ice cream first?" asked Sirius. Without waiting for a response he started to walk over to the nearest food-selling establishment, listing all the foods he would like to consume on the way.

James sighed and followed his friend. Twenty minutes later the two were having an ice cream eating contest when Sirius ceremoniously dropped his spoons in the bowl and announced, "Yet again, I have proven to be superior to you."

"In ice cream eating only," protested James. "But I have to hand it to you, only you could eat fifteen scoops of pond slime flavored ice cream with pus and algae flavored toppings in under fifteen minutes."

"But you didn't do to badly with your bat wing and fried fly chip sundae."

"Yeah, I'm going to have to get you back for choosing that for me."

"Why do we let each other pick the ice cream flavors and toppings again?"

"Because it's fun to see the look on our faces when we eat it."

Sirius smiled, "Oh yeah, I remember now. Do you remember that one time you picked troll boogey for me and I picked gnome brains for you?"

James grimaced, "Yeah I also remember when that came back up three hours later."

Just then James happened to glance at his watch. "Oh Merlin, we're in for it now! We were supposed to meet Moony fifteen minutes ago! He's going to lecture us for the rest of the day!"

Sirius didn't need to be told twice. They left the money for their sundaes on the table, shouted their good-byes to the owner, who had taken an interest in the boys when they had ordered such unusual sundaes years ago, and ran out of Igor's Unusual Ice Cream Parlor. They ran all the way to Gringott's, not even noticing that the street was deserted.

Outside of Gringott's they finally stopped. After catching his breath Sirius asked, "Do you see Remus anywhere? Is it possible that he is more late than we are?"

"I didn't think it was possible," replied James as he looked around. "But I also didn't think it was possible for Diagon Alley to be deserted and look at it."

"Where did everyone go?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," said James as he pulled out his wand.

Sirius followed suit and the two young men looked left and right down the street. Shops were all closed and nothing was moving, save for an old newspaper that was blowing down the street. Then they heard a familiar female shriek.

"James, Sirius, thank goodness I found you," she huffed. "You-know-who was here!"

James and Sirius gasped. They had heard rumors about a dark wizard supposedly attacking muggle-borns and muggles, but they didn't believe it. The Daily Prophet and the Ministry had dismissed everything, saying that it was under control and not to be afraid. No one had thought that Diagon Alley would be attacked.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" yelled Lily as she grabbed James and Sirius's hands.

"Wait," said James. "Where's Remus?"

"They got him; there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry," said Lily as she flipped her hair over her shoulder, impatient to leave.

"What do you mean, 'they got him'?" asked Sirius angrily.

James paled. In his daydream you-know-who had killed Remus. But that couldn't happen in real life, or could it?

Lily flipped her hair again nervously, "I'm not sure what happened. One minute Remus and I were standing right here and then the next there were these people in black cloaks everywhere swarming the place. Death Eaters is what they are called I think. Remus and I got separated. I saw him go down and get carried away and then I ran."

"So you don't know where he was taken?" asked James.

"I have a feeling I know where he is," said Sirius blandly.

"You do?" asked James and Lily at the same time.

"Yeah, my parents' house."

Lily was skeptical, "How could you know that already? I… never mind"

Sirius gave her a confused look but just explained his reasoning, "Because I left earlier this summer because I heard my family all talking about this dark lord guy and saying that they were supporting him and stuff. I didn't agree and my parents decided that that was the last straw. I believe their exact words were, 'Join us or be forever marked as a traitor and die.'"

"So why your mansion? Aren't there six other wealthy pureblood families who would be willing to donate their million galleon homes to the cause of killing mudbl- ahh muggle-borns?" asked Lily.

"That's true," said Sirius thoughtfully. "But I believe that they would take my best friend to the place I hated most because they know that I would come and rescue him no matter where he was."

"Very Slytherin-like," commented James as he starred at Lily intently.

"And besides, it would be easiest for me to break into my own manor, I've broken out enough, so if Remus isn't there we can just try another mansion," said Sirius.

"That sounds like a well-thought out plan! Let's go! We can all apparate!" said Lily cheerfully, as she once again flipped her hair.

Sirius and James nodded their heads and within seconds they arrived outside of 12 Grimmauld Place. Before Sirius could do so much as walk up to the front door, James grabbed his arm and pulled him behind the trashcans of a neighboring house.

"Padfoot, that was not Lily Evans we were just talking to," hissed James.

"Yeah it was Prongs," said Sirius lightly. "Who else do you know that has that color hair."

"But Lily doesn't flip her hair and I think she would have been a tad more upset over the disappearance of her boyfriend."

Sirius didn't get to comment on the latest revelations of James because just then, fifteen figures in dark cloaks arrived on the scene with "Lily." In a very harsh tone, one that James's had not even heard directed at him, "Lily" said, "Search the house. They have to be in there somewhere."

Ten of the cloaked people disappeared into the Black family mansion, leaving "Lily", a blonde haired man that threw back his hood and took off his mask revealing Lucius Malfoy, and four more hooded characters that were flanking either side of two prisoners.

"Lily," breathed James. "Remus."

"Narcissa, darling, I really don't like this new look you have, it's so common and filthy. It just screams, 'I'm a mudblood, come kill me!'" Lucius uttered the last few words venomously as he looked directly at one of his prisoners, the red-headed one. "But I suppose it could be worse, you could look like a wolf and be afraid of white balloons," this time the comment was directed to 'the half-breed' prisoner.

From their hiding place James and Sirius were clenching their fists and sending glares in the direction of Lucius and Lily, a.k.a. Narcissa Black, one of the many cousins that Sirius hated with a passion.

"What now?" mouthed James.

Sirius shrugged.

James held up six fingers and then two, meaning that it was a six on two fight.

Sirius nodded and furrowed his brow, deep in concentration. Then his face lit up. Very, very quietly, while Lucius was complimenting his darling Narcissa, Sirius whispered his plan to James. At first James frowned. It was a high risk plan and it was unlikely that they would be successful, but then he looked through the space in the trashcans and saw Lily and Remus. It was then that he knew he had to try; it was his duty as a friend and as a Gryffindor.

"Three… two… one," counted down James softly. Sirius smiled at him and then changed into his animagus form. James crawled over to the fence that separated the Black's house from their next door neighbor, so that he could have a better view of the dark lord's supporters.

As soon as James was safely out of the way, a big black dog bounded out from behind the trash cans and stood not five feet from the cloaked people and their prisoners.

"Where did that mangy mutt come from?" asked Lucius disdainfully.

No one replied, they all just looked shocked and scared. One of Remus' guards even "fainted" from fright.

"What is with you? It's just a dog."

"That's not just a dog Lucius," said Narcissa timidly. "That's the Grim!"

At the name of the dog, one of Lily's guards dropped down to the ground.

"Yes and…"

"It means that we're all going to die," said the real Lily.

"Shut up mudblood!" snapped Lucius with a trace of fear in his voice.

"Lucius! I don't want to die," shrieked Narcissa as she grabbed onto his arm.

"Don't worry Narcissa, it looks like the Grim favors your boyfriend over you," said Remus. It was true; the Grim was in fact starring directly at Lucius and was growling from deep in his throat.

Lucius and Narcissa's eyes were both trained solely on the big black dog in front of them. Lily looked at them and then decided that she could take on one guard, even without the use of her hands or her wand. She suddenly dropped to the ground and then kicked the legs of her guard out from under her. The guard went down and then Lily kicked him or her hard in the head. The person groaned but stayed down.

Just then, the Grim bounded and jumped up on Lucius, also knocking Narcissa, was who still clenching on to Lucius' arm, down. This allowed James to send a spell to Lily's guard to make sure he or she was really out and to take out Remus'. While Sirius was taking care of his beloved relatives, James ran out from where he was and assisted his friend and his friend's girlfriend with their bonds and taking their wands back from their captors' pockets.

"Alright let's go," said Sirius when he was satisfied that Lucius and Narcissa were not going to get up anytime soon. "We have to get out of here before…"

Then Narcissa screamed.

"Narcissa screams," finished Sirius.

"No, first we need to know if these two are really whom they look like," said James firmly as he glanced over at the Lily that was clutching Lucius' arm. "Remus, what is your favorite kind of chocolate?"

"Dark chocolate with milk chocolate filling," answered Remus.

James nodded and said, "Now ask Lily a question."

Remus thought for a moment and asked, "Where are you going on vacation with your family next week?"

"Greece."

Remus nodded and just as ten black cloaks came out of the front door, James hissed, "My house, now."

Remus grabbed Lily's hand since she didn't know where James's house was and then the three boys apparated.

They arrived in the front yard of the Potter mansion out of breath and scared out of their wits.

"That was a close one," said James.

Sirius just laughed. "What a thrill! That was awesome! I have half a mind to go back there just to see their faces again! Did you see their faces! The Grim indeed!"

Lily just looked confused, "Oh I get it, you're an animagus!"

The grin that had been on Sirius' face suddenly slipped off. "Oh no, definitely not. I'm terrible in school, remember? I can't even finish an essay on time; much less become an animagus before the age of sixteen. What is an animagus anyway?"

"That has got to be the worst lie I have ever heard," said Lily sternly. "So now I know where you four go every month. I must that that is awfully sweet of you guys to do that for Remus."

James just looked down at the ground and didn't say anything, but Sirius said, "Well yeah, we couldn't let Moony here keep all of the fun to himself!"

"Yeah, because becoming a werewolf is soo fun," said Remus sarcastically.

"Sarcasm really isn't your style Moony," said Sirius seriously.

"Come on guys, let's go get some food, I'm starved," said James quietly.

"Good idea Prongs, and then after some nourishment, you two can tell us what really happened back in Diagon Alley," said Sirius as he followed James up to the mansion. Remus and Lily made up the rear. Lily having never been to the Potter estate before; was strolling slowly, taking in all of the magnificent grounds and Remus was pointing out some of his favorite aspects of the grounds.

Once James and Sirius were significantly ahead of the other two, Sirius said, "James, mate, are you going to be ok?"

"No, Padfoot, I don't think I am," answered James without looking at Sirius.

"Maybe after some food, you'll feel better."

"I don't think food will cure a broken heart."

"Don't be such a drama queen. You'll get over this. You'll bounce back!"

"No Padfoot, you don't understand. I love her, I really do."

Sirius was shocked, that was the first time James had ever admitted actually _loving_ Lily. "You don't mean that you _love, love_ her, do you?"

"That is exactly what I mean," said James evenly.

"Why?" asked Sirius as he turned around hoping to get a glimpse of what about Lily Evans had bewitched two of his best friends.

"I don't know, I just do," said James tiredly.

"But why? Because she's the only one you can't have?"

"No, not exactly. She has an actual personality and isn't afraid to say what she thinks. She also has a fiery temper and is smart and pretty. She's just perfect, I guess."

Sirius scoffed at his friend's naiveté. "She is definitely not perfect mate. Just like everyone else, Lily has flaws and if you would just let yourself see them, dealing with this might be a little easier on you."

James pondered this bit of wisdom the whole ten more steps to his front door. A little house elf greeted them at the door.

"Hello Master James, and Master Sirius, is there anything I can get for you?"

"Yes please Maisy, we are expecting two more guests shortly, Master Remus and Mistress Lily. Please show them into the Northern kitchen when they arrive," said Sirius.

"Of course Master Sirius, it would be my honor!" squeaked Maisy.

Sirius smiled and he and James went off to the Northern kitchen.

In a few minutes Lily and Remus arrived in the front hall.

"Master Remus welcome back! And Mistress Lily how nice to finally meet you, Master James speaks of you highly indeed!" greet Maisy.

"Hello Maisy," said Remus kindly.

"Hello," said Lily, a little pink from when she blushed at Maisy's greeting.

"Come right this way! Master James and Master Sirius are in the Northern kitchen cooking up some monstrosity I'm sure!"

Lily smiled as the house elf guided them through the house to the very other side of the mansion, muttering about James and Sirius' antics.

"Remus," whispered Lily. "Why does Maisy wear real clothes? I thought house elves weren't allowed to."

"The Potters gave clothes to all of their house elves. All of the elves that are here, are here of their own accord. They can leave at any time they like, but I think that they all stay."

"Wow," said Lily softly.

"It wasn't always this way though," said Remus.

"Hmm?"

"No, this is actually a recent change. A few years ago James discovered that some people mistreat their house elves and he didn't want that to happen in his house, so he freed them all and let them be able to choose to stay or go whenever they liked."

"Really?"

"Yes, he said that they are people too and should not be forced to work under conditions where they were treated as less than people. They should have the right to leave if they wanted to."

"A person's a person no matter how small," recited Lily more to herself than Remus.

"Excuse me?"

"Just part of a story book my mother read to me as a little girl," said Lily.

Then they arrived at the kitchen and Maisy asked, "Master James do you require any help with anything?"

"No thank you Maisy, but you can have some of it when it's done if you like."

As James conversed with Maisy, Lily couldn't help but think something her father had said to her when she was a child, "Lily, don't judge men by how their treat their equals, but by how their treat those beneath them." And here James was, treating a house elf, someone far below him, as if she was a part of his family. Lily was rather shocked. James was actually a decent person.

When someone called, "Lily!" she finally snapped out of it.

"Sorry, she said, I was just zoning out. I have never seen such a big house."

"You should see the Malfoy's," said Sirius. "It's even bigger. I went in there with my parents once as a child for a party, and I got lost on my way to the bathroom. I didn't get out of there for a month."

"How did you survive?" asked Lily.

"Every so often I would stumble across a house elf or one of the kitchens and get some food and there were bathrooms every couple of hallways," explained Sirius.

"Alright then, what shall be the masterpiece of today's exciting venture into the magical world of James' walk-in refrigerator?" asked Remus.

"Well, I was thinking…" was all Lily heard of Sirius' idea before her eyes met James'. They were cold and unwelcoming. She saw no spark of playfulness or bravery, one of the two most distinguishing characteristics of James. Luckily James broke the gaze soon and Lily was able to catch the last couple of sentences of Sirius' idea so she wouldn't be caught unawares again.

"… and then we put brownies on top, with caramel sauce, more ice cream, potato chips, and chocolate sprinkles. Then on top of that we put some frosting, Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans and tofu. Finally, to finish it off, we put a ton of whipped cream, rainbow sprinkles and a billion of those cool cherry things. What do you guys think?"

"I think," began Remus with a stern face. "That there is not nearly enough chocolate in this equation!"

Sirius mentally reviewed his masterpiece and said, "You are so right Moony! How could I be so thick!"

"I believe it is just a gift that you possess," said Remus.

"Alright then, we put come chocolate cupcakes in between the layer of sugar and the layer of peanut butter."

"And I say that we add some bars of chocolate on top of the creamed corn and chocolate chips into the brownies."

"Ohh… and some hot fudge on top of the broccoli, next to the cheese sauce!"

"What do you think Lily?" asked Remus.

"I think that that is the most disgusting thing I have ever heard of… but I'll give it a taste anyway," she laughed.

"Good to have you aboard," said Sirius. "Now let's get cracking!"

Sirius and James walked over to the large stainless steel refrigerator that was built into the kitchen wall and opened it. Then they walked in and started pulling out all of the necessary ingredients.

"I can't believe that that refrigerator is stocked with all of these things!" gasped Lily as Sirius walked out of the refrigerator carrying hot fudge, tofu and a roasted chicken.

"It's magically enchanted to contain whatever the person who opens it wants or needs," explained Remus.

Lily just watched in astonishment as the two boys piled weird foods onto the counters. Soon every inch was covered, except for a large circle on the peninsula in front of where Remus and Lily were sitting on bar stools.

"What's the empty spot for?" asked Lily.

"The bowl of course," said Sirius.

"I'll get it," offered Remus. He disappeared into the pantry that was next to the magic refrigerator.

He soon returned levitating the biggest ice cream bowl that Lily had ever seen. It was big enough to have been a kitchen sink. It gave Sirius great pleasure to watch Lily's green eyes get wider and wider.

"Scared yet?" asked Sirius teasingly.

"I started to be scared when you brought out duck sauce, radishes, spaghetti and watermelon at the same time," returned Lily.

"Hey Prongs, why don't you get ol' Peter over here, he would be sorely disappointed if he missed one of our famous sundaes!"

James just nodded and left to go apparate to Peter's house.

"You call this a sundae?" asked Lily as she surveyed the counters.

Sirius shrugged, "What else would you call it? It has ice cream and toppings, followed by whipped cream and a cherry. Just because the stuff between the ice cream and the whipped cream is a little strange doesn't make it any less a sundae," said Sirius as he scooped some ice cream out of each of the fourteen cartons assembled on the table.

After Sirius was finished with each one, Remus waved his wand and returned it to the refrigerator. Once the ice cream was out of the way the real fun began. James returned with Peter in tow just as Lily was throwing some marshmallows on top of the graham crackers in the bowl. Without a word Peter and James jumped right in. Slowly but surely, the counters became more bare. Tortilla chips, salsa, buffalo wings, baked beans and pop rocks all found their way into the bowl, along with several other odd toppings. At last they were finished. James pulled five spoons out of a drawer and handed them out.

"You first Lily," said Sirius with a smile, "Since you are newest to this game."

Lily gulped and took a small amount of whipped cream.

"Ok, that doesn't count," said Sirius. "Just let us get this whipped cream out of the way for you and then you have to take a _real_ first taste."

Soon (94 seconds to be exact) the whipped cream was gone, and it was time for Lily to once again take a taste. She took a bit of tofu and some frosting with a Bertie Bott's bean or two and put it in her mouth. The four boys looked at her expectantly.

She smiled and said, "As much as I hate to say it, that creation that you call a sundae, is actually good."

"How could you ever doubt us?" asked Sirius.

"Did you even _see_ what you put into this thing?"

"Not really, no. I just kind of dump whatever is on the counter in."

Then everyone started to eat the sundae. Within ten minutes it was gone, every last morsel of the disgusting combination of food had disappeared into their stomachs. But before it had all been consumed, James had taken a smaller bowl and scooped some of everything into it. Then he had left the kitchen.

"Where's he going?" asked Lily.

"To give some of the sundae to Maisy and the other house elves," said Remus.

"Really?"

Sirius looked at Lily suspiciously, "Yeah," he said slowly. "He promised that he would give her some. Why would you think he would go back on his promise?"

"I dunno," said Lily quietly.

Soon James had returned and the eating that had ceased while James had been gone, resumed.

After the sundae was gone, the group retired into one of the many living rooms of the Potter house and Lily and Remus told their tale.

"We were waiting for you two outside of Gringotts when the Death Eaters attacked," began Remus. "People were running everywhere and somehow we got stuck within a circle of death eaters. I guess one of them recognized me as a friend of Sirius Black, Narcissa I think. And then a Death Eater who had been stationed down the street came running up and said that you two were on your way down, so they took us prisoner."

Lily continued on with the story, "They killed the rest of the people in the circle. But anyways, they bound our hands together and took our wands and pulled us into one of the shops of the street."

"So you were there the whole time?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah, watching from a store window," said Lily.

"What did you think of Narcissa's impression of you?" asked Sirius.

"It was so strange watching her steal a polyjuice potion, take one of my hairs and turn into me. And she was so unconvincing! I never flip my hair like that!"

"That's what Prongs said," said Sirius.

Lily looked over at James, who hadn't said anything in the last hour or so. His eyes still were dark and stern.

"Well you guys know what happened from there," said Remus. "Nice wand work by the way Prongs."

James nodded.

"I didn't know you were so skilled at silent spells," continued Remus.

James shrugged.

"Okay then," said Peter, trying to avoid an awkward silence. "I have to go home now and look after my, ummm, my ummm…"

"Gerbil?" supplied Remus.

"Yeah, that's it. Bye guys," said Peter as he flooed home, having failed his apparation test twice.

"I'd better be going too," said Lily. "Now if only I could remember how to get out of here…"

"I'll help," said Remus. "And then I'd better be going."

"Bye guys," said Sirius. James said nothing.

Once the couple had left Sirius said, "So does becoming a mute help your broken heart?"

"It's all part of the plan," said James quietly.

"I knew that you weren't completely gone!" shouted Sirius happily. "How can I help?"

"You can't," said James. "Sorry mate, but this is a mission I have to do solo. Sorry."

"I understand," said Sirius.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Harry Potter or any Harry Potter related copyrights. Bummer. **

Sirius, James, Peter, Remus and Lily were gathered in Remus' small, but cozy living room later that summer, chatting happily about whatever popped into theirs heads.

This was not the first occasion after the Diagon Alley incident that the Marauders had gathered as the Marauders and Lily. In fact, Sirius couldn't remember not seeing Remus without Lily attached to him. He had minded at first, but the more her company was forced on him, the more he grew to like her. He found that she had interesting opinions and several entertaining and quirky habits. However, he was rather concerned for James' well-being.

Like the good friend he was, James was never absent from anytime the guys (and Lily) got together to hang out, but he refused to speak unless directly spoken to. There were times Sirius had brought up controversial subjects like who was going to win the Quidditch World Cup, subjects that he knew James had a great amount of interest in and much to say about, but James never uttered more than a phrase or two, and that was when he was pressured into it. To confuse Sirius further, every time James and Sirius returned to James' house, James talked for a half hour straight, seemingly verbalizing everything he had been thinking but not saying in the entire time that he had spent with his friends, and Lily.

While Peter, who had soon gotten over being shy around Lily, and Lily debated the better flavors of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Sirius took the opportunity to study his friend. First he looked at James, who was sitting on an armchair across from him. James looked as if he was in deep thought about the current conversation, but Sirius knew that he had no interest in it because he hated jelly beans. Sirius knew that the pensive face that James had on was caused by the red-headed girl who was sitting so close, yet so far away from him. Sirius couldn't help but wonder what James' plan was; so far, he was completely baffled how James' current actions could possibly win Lily's affection.

With this thought, Sirius turned his calculating gaze over to his friend who had won Lily's admiration, seemingly effortlessly. Remus was sitting comfortably at one side of the sofa with one arm draped lazily over the shoulders of Lily, who was curled up next to him. It wasn't exactly a scene that made Sirius gag, but he was surprised that James hadn't done something like sit down between them before they had a chance to get so close. The old James would have done something like that, or with Sirius' help, something much more immature, like dropping a balloon filled with their special glop on Lily so that she had to clean herself up in the loo and then take her seat on the sofa while she was gone.

Sirius couldn't remember the last time he had seen Remus so completely at ease and happy. He didn't want to begrudge his friend this one ray of sunshine in his dreary life full of painful monthly transformations and the paralyzing fear that someday someone would figure out his secret. However, Sirius also couldn't exactly justify Remus dating the one girl that James had his heart set on, and was maybe even in _love_ with (Sirius wasn't so convinced on this point). They did look happy together though… great! Now Sirius was torn between wanting James to win Lily away from Remus and Remus keeping Lily to himself. One of these days he was going to have to give Peter a stern lecture against developing a crush on Lily, because Sirius could not stand to be the only sane one in the group!

Finally, Lily glanced at her watch and said, "Merlin! I was supposed to be home ten minutes ago! My mom is going to murder me and bury the evidence for being late again!"

Ever the calm one, Remus helped Lily off of the couch and said, "Don't worry about it. You can just apparate home."

"I'm still late," said Lily.

"But not as late as you would be," Remus pointed out.

"That's not going to save me from a very painful death," Lily countered.

"Do you want me to go with you and cover for you?" Remus offered. "Your mom seems to like me."

"More than me I think sometimes; you're all she ever talks about…" said Lily as the couple left the room without even seeming to notice the other people there. Sometimes that happened; Remus and Lily drifted off into their own world and the others were left to their own devices.

"Wow," said Peter as they heard the laughter of Lily and Remus as it sounded like they tried to get their shoes on and gather Lily's belongings unsuccessfully. "I guess they're getting pretty serious if he's already met her mum."

"Seems like it," said James coolly.

"It's kind of funny," began Sirius.

"What is?" asked James moodily.

"We haven't seen Moony without Lily all summer. It's like they're stuck together with glue," finished Sirius.

Sarcastically James said, "No really? I hadn't noticed."

"This must be tough for you, eh Prongs?" said Peter insensitively.

"Nope!" said James sharply, his fists clenching. "It's awesome, just like waking up to find that Sirius has levitated my bed onto the roof."

"That was funny," said Sirius as he chuckled loudly, reminiscing. "You should have seen your face! Don't worry! You can! I took pictures."

James didn't reply; he just glared at Sirius and silently vowed to make his revenge prank even more painful.

The room fell into an awkward silence, one of three that the boys had ever experienced. The other two were when Peter got notice that his dad had died back in their third year and directly after Sirius told Snape how to get into the Whomping Willow. The minutes crawled by until Peter broke the silence by saying, "Moony has been gone for awhile…"

"Yeah…" said Sirius.

"I wonder what he's doing."

"I would rather not," said Sirius trying, but not very hard, to escape the coming conversation.

"Why? I'm curious. He's been gone awhile. He was only escorting Lily home…" Peter trailed off, realizing _why_ Remus was so late.

"Yup," said James angrily, finishing what Peter was smart enough not to. "He's probably enjoying himself by saying _good-bye_ to his frickin girlfriend!"

Silence reigned after James' outburst. An hour went by; Remus still wasn't home; no one had said anything or moved except for Peter when he went to use the loo to try and escape the tension.

After another half hour, Mrs. Lupin entered the living room and said cheerily, trying to ignore the strained atmosphere, "Mr. Lupin and I are going out for dinner and we were wondering if you boys would want a pizza for dinner. Where's Remus?"

"Dunno," said James sullenly.

Sirius shot James a warning glance and said, "Pizza would be awesome Mrs. Lupin. Thank you. Remus is in his room, grabbing something. He'll be down in a minute."

"Okay! The menu and money are in the kitchen, you can order through the floo when you get hungry!" said Mrs. Lupin.

"Have a nice time," said Peter.

"Thank you dear," said Mrs. Lupin as she met Mr. Lupin in the hallway and left. "Be good boys!"

"We always are," said Sirius with a big grin.

"Yeah!" Peter chimed in.

After the departure of the Lupins, Sirius took charge and said, "So who's up for a large pizza with everything on it?"

Peter wrinkled his nose and said, "Just don't order anchovies on it! I hate them!"

"Come to think of it, so do I," said Sirius. "Okay, so any other objections?"

Sullenly James said, "If Remus was here he would object to having spinach on it and tell you to add extra meat."

"Well, he's not here," said Sirius angrily. "So stop being such a bratty little girl! No one forced you to come here and in fact, it would probably be much more fun if you weren't here! So leave if you want now and don't bother to come next time!"

James looked taken aback by this. So far, Sirius had indulged James' moodiness and repressed anger which often eventually depressed everyone he was with.

Then James did something that he didn't often do, "I'm sorry Padfoot. It's just that seeming _him_ with _her_ makes my blood boil. It's driving me crazy! I can't help but feel betrayed by my own friend!"

"Well then do something about it!" instructed Peter. "Not saying anything to her and acting like some stuck-up jerk isn't making you look any better in her eyes!"

"Wormtail's right," said Sirius. "Whatever your plan was, it clearly isn't working cause they haven't broken up yet."

James bowed his head to show that he would take his friends' criticisms into consideration. "You guys are right," he said without lifting his head. "I'll have to change my strategy."

"Or you could just give up altogether," Peter suggested. "Maybe you and Lily just weren't meant to be."

James just shrugged. "Maybe."

"Now what about that pizza?" asked Sirius.

"Order it without pineapple; I can't stand pineapple on pizza," said James as he finally lifted his friends, a smile finally back on his face.

"Will do captain!" said Sirius as he saluted James and walked off to order the pizza.

Within an hour, the pizza arrived and had been disposed of. The three boys had also started a game of exploding snap, still waiting for Remus to return.

During their third game of exploding snap, Remus walked into his house and yelled, "Mum! Dad! I'm home!"

Having heard him from the living room, Sirius yelled back, "They aren't home! They went out hours ago."

Surprised, Remus walked over to the door to the living room. "What are you guys still doing here?"

"You left us here," Peter pointed out.

"Oh," said Remus as the situation dawned on him. "Sorry bout that," he said insincerely. "But when Lily and I got to her house, her parents had her Hogwarts letter and she opened it while I was still there. She got Head Girl!"

None of the Marauders reacted as Remus had hoped; there wasn't any cheering or clapping or exclamations of 'We all knew she would!' 'She was a shoo-in!' 'That's wonderful!', so he continued, "So of course, her parents wanted to take her out to dinner to celebrate! And since I was there at the time, they invited me to join them! I couldn't refuse. I guess I forgot about you guys in the excitement."

"I guess you did," said Sirius with an impassive face.

"We had a great time," Remus continued, trying and failing to make the situation better. "Lily's parents are really great. Even her sister's not that bad if you don't mention magic."

"That's great," said Peter, repeating Sirius' stony tone and demeanor.

"It really was," Remus assured them.

"I think it's time I left," said James coldly as he got up from the floor and walked over to the only doorway out of the room, the one Remus was standing in.

As James approached Remus refused to move; he looked James in the eye and said defiantly, "What's _your_ problem?"

James punched him soundly on the jaw and then brushed by him and out the front door, slamming it behind him.

Regaining his balance and rubbing his sore jaw, Remus addressed Sirius and Peter, who didn't even flinch when James hit Remus, "What's up with him?"

Sirius groaned and threw down the remaining cards in his hand with much more force than was necessary, which caused a small explosion. H stood up and then said, "You're his problem! You and your need to flaunt your girlfriend in front of him all the time! It's like the two of you are stuck together with glue! Do you ever spend any time with her when we _aren't_ around? Or do you just wait until James is around to hang out with her?

"I think he's been taking it pretty well considering the fact that he is bloody-well in love with her and has been for months! And you know that! So what you're doing is just below the belt! Of all the girls you could have decided to go out with, you just **had** to pick Lily? You make me sick!" yelled Sirius.

Remus yelled in reply, "Did anyone ever stop to think that I didn't decide to go out with Lily to spite James but because I **like** her too and have since before James even knew that she existed? Did you ever think that maybe I deserve to get the girl of my dreams too? James has everything else he could ever want! Why can't I just have one thing to make me happy? Everything else in my life is crap! Everything except Lily! She is the one thing that doesn't make me want to jump off of the astronomy tower! I'm tired of always just taking the crap life deals out to me! So I finally did something about it! I actually took a stand to get something that **I **wanted! I'm sorry if poor James is upset because I finally beat him at something! He plays Quidditch, has girls fawning over him, can get out of doing homework with a witty sentence and a smile, has more money than he knows what to do with and has his pick of jobs! And what do I get? I get to transform into a werewolf every month and endanger everyone I care about! I might as well not even do my homework because it's not like I'll get a job anyways! And Lily is one of the only girls who has ever shown an interest in me beyond using me to try and get closer to the rest of you! So you know what Sirius? Maybe I _am_ flaunting my relationship with Lily, but it's nothing compared to how everyone else flaunts their entire lives in front of me!"

Sirius eyed his usually quiet and calm friend whose chest was now heaving from releasing so much anger, with shock. Who knew Remus felt that way?

"Moony, mate, I didn't know…"

"You never bothered to find out," replied Remus nastily as he turned around and stomped up to his bedroom. Once he got there, he slammed the door shut.

Sirius turned to Peter and said, "Why is it that I have an overwhelming urge to go and slam a door?"

"I dunno, but it seems like a good idea," said Peter shrugging.

"Okay, I'll go and slam the door to the kitchen and you can so slam the front door like Prongs."

"Sure."

Sirius and Peter did just that. Then they met in the hallway and nodded to each other, each of them feeling very foolish and strangely relieved.

"I think it's time for us to go," said Peter.

"Yup, I think we have overstayed our welcome. Do you mind if I crash at your place tonight? I think Prongs needs time to cool off and I don't really want to be on the receiving end of another tirade today," said Sirius.

"Yeah, come on over," said Peter as he and Sirius left the Lupin residence.

In his bedroom, Remus sat at his cluttered desk, already composing a letter to Lily about the events that had occurred when he returned home. He found that writing it all down helped to soothe him and Lily in general always helped to calm him down and see things rationally. At last, his frenzied writing was done. He sent off the letter with his old family owl and sank onto his bed, sighing deeply. _What was he going to do now? _James definitely didn't want to be around him and he wasn't so sure Sirius and Peter wanted to hang out with him anymore either. At least he still had Lily…

Over in the Potter house, James was sitting at his kitchen table not believing the badge that had fallen out of his Hogwarts letter. He was Head Boy. James Potter was Head Boy. Remus hadn't gotten the position. James had never been a prefect, but Dumbledore had chosen him over Remus, Remus the prefect from the past two years, Remus, Lily's prefect partner. Now _James_ was Lily's partner; _he_ was Head Boy to her Head Girl. Remus was only a prefect and James was Head Boy! _He_ would be patrolling with Lily now for hours every week! Finally he had a chance again! James looked upwards and thanking whatever higher power had smiled down on him and given him a chance with Lily Evans. Or so he thought…

**A/N. Wow! I am in fact alive and on this planet! Sorry for the long wait guys! Please read and review! Reviews are the only thing that got me to get back to this story! They are in fact, very powerful!**


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